Snakes are active in town

[Wrightwood]

Wrightwood Fire was called out near the top of Heath Creek for a rattle snake in a yard.

The timber rattler was located in a backyard and killed. The fire department is sensitive to the wildlife in the area and will release rattle snakes if open area is available. This was a fully residential area and felt the snake needed to be killed due to the number of neighborhood children.





In a separate part of town a King Snake was found and released in an open forest area.

[Mountain_Witch]

Oh man....I would have taken it and released it.   Poor snake. That makes me sad.

What a beautiful shot of a king snake. They are so pretty. Good job Wrightwood.

[WWMtnGal]

I live at the top of Heathcreek and have seen a king snake in the back but no rattle snakes yet.  We keep all of the area around the house clear of any where they can hide.  That seems to keep them away from the house but they do seem to like to hide under the work shop out back.  Be careful everyone, it is only natural for them to be out this time of year!

[Nolena]

Why do people kill snakes? You can easily move one with a rake and a bag or aquarium. (not to mention the cool close up pictures you can take of a snake in an aquarium!) I don't understand why people are so afraid of them. They're just little animals. I''ve moved lots of rattlesnakes, & never had a problem.

[Ensen]

It's human nature.  If you don't understand something, kill it.

[Wildman]

The fire department kills the snakes because of the proximity of children and pets.  There was no safe place (for snake or human) to release the snake.  The firefighters are not trained nor equipped to transport snakes safely.  Had there been a large open area or wash nearby, the situation might have turned out differently.  

The firefighters do understand the local rattlesnake population and respect them for their important place in our valley....however, we also have all personally dealt with the after effects of rattlesnake envenomation.  The last three bites in this area were directly related to folks handling rattlesnakes in some fashion.

In a situation where the lives of humans vs any kind of animal comes into play....the humans always come first.  

[RobertW]

[Mountain_Witch]

I just hope people don't start killing the king snakes. King Snakes are harmless and from what I heard, they will even kill a rattle snake when presented with the oppertunity.

[naturalist]

By the way, we don't have "Timber Rattlers" here--those are an eastern species.  We have Pacific Rattlesnakes, which are a ~lot~ less aggressive.  I've seen quite a few and they are almost always trying to escape.  When we find them on the grounds of the outdoor school/Methodist camp, we catch them with a long pole/noose set up that one of the camp maintenance staff came up with and put them in an empty trash can.  Then they take them down to Lone Pine Canyon and let them go far away from any buildings or trails.

Of course, the rattlesnakes are an important part of the local ecosystem, keeping rodents in check, reducing risks of Hanta Virus, plague, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, gardening nightmares, and the like.  But, like with Yosemite bears, people come first when it comes to safety issues.

I've heard a great statistic about rattlesnake bites--now, of course, not all victims fall under this type, but apparently the majority of snakebite victims are male, drunk, and were bitten on the hand or arm when they were trying to catch the snake!  Use looong poles!  Be careful and respect these creatures' abilities.

The Mountain King Snakes are beautiful snakes, and will eat other reptiles, including rattlesnakes!  They are immune to their venom.  Mountain King Snakes are very beneficial snakes to have around as well as beautiful!  Occasionally people get confused and will kill a King snake, mistaking it for a Coral Snake, but we don't have Coral Snakes here, either.  There is that little poem to help you remember the difference:

Red touch yellow,
could kill a fellow;
Red touch black,
You're okay, Jack!

 But it would be easier to remember that the only colorful snake with black, red and "yellow" we have here is the Mountain King Snake, so leave it alone!

[Mountain_Witch]

Yupper...snakes are out. Just saw a beauty out back by our wash this evening around 6pm as I was trying to check out a nest in the brush where some Towhees had some youngsters. The snake was very passive, I just sat there checking him out, he sat there checking me out and then I let him be. I was able to count 8 rattles on him and he was very light in color, I presume he may have just got done shedding. I'm sure I'll see more before this year is over.

And thanks for the King Snake info Maggie, I was trying to remember that little ditty earlier...but I couldn't seem to find where I put it.  

[artology]

Early Tuesday I saw a big-ole rattler when I was out watering. Although we've seen smaller ones, this was the largest I have seen so far. I think we get a little complacent when we don't see them for a while.

My hose sprinkled it slightly about the time I realized what it was and it slowly slithered it's way into the sage.

Then today, the neighbor had a baby one come out and head towards a stacked rock wall they have.  Maybe I saw the Mama.

It was really cool, although a little scarey , but I want to be careful and leave them alone, since they are an important part of the food chain.

Is the best advice to back off slowly???

[Mountain_Witch]

Is the best advice to back off slowly???

I would say yes, but watch your step so you don't slip and fall or even step into another chance meeting with another snake.

[Mountain_Witch]

Well since we are seeing a lot of activity, I thought that maybe I should throw a few links on here on snake bite treatments (DO's and Dont's).

http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/995_snakes.html

http://www.xmission.com/~gastown/herpmed/snbite.htm

http://www.bitesandstingsonline.com/Bites_Stings/snake-bite.htm

And please remember, watch your step about your yards and please make sure to educate kids about what they should do if they should happen upon a snake while playing in your yard or anywhere outside. They had two snake bite victims at Silverwood Lake last weekend. One was from kids playing with a snake, the other was a man who was trying to keep between some kids and a snake and ended up getting bit himself.

[rmekemson]

Thanks for the expert clarification on the "timber" rattler Naturalist.  We have a stuffed rattlesnake on display at Grassyhollow with the dark flat head.  

When I first moved up here I was told over and over again we had timber rattlesnakes; and I initially believed them.  The thinking was:  we have rattlesnakes and we have timber thus we have timber rattlesnakes.  That's when I picked up a National Audubon book on reptiles and found that a local species is the Southern Pacific rattler and that the timber rattler is confined to the eastern United States.  There is a similarity between the two for us untrained observers and I still have problems convincing people of this.  

[ChrisLynnet]

I'm all for saving the local snake population, but not at the expense of my 6-year-old and his friends. If I find a rattler in my yard I will call the fire department.

I don't fool around with this -- one of my friends lives in Yorba Linda. She was working around her outdoor pond and got bitten by several baby rattlers. Their venom is nothing to fool with, and we're glad it wasn't her 3 or 6-year-old that discovered the nest.

And yes, the king snake is gorgeous.

[naturalist]

[Chesslike]

Thanks for all the great info on snakes everybody. Now I have a question. I have a 6 month old curious pup, who I take hiking all the time. Have there been any incidents of dogs getting bit by snakes up here and most important, what should you do if your dog is bitten ?

[Mountain_Witch]

I know two people that have had their dogs bitten before and both dogs have lived through the ordeal. Infact, one dog(an austrailian sherperd) had been bitten twice in one year. One thing to always remember when hiking trails with your canine freind, is to always keep them leashed for their safety and yours. Anyhoot, treatment is pretty much the same for dogs as it is for us humans.

First identify the snake if possible and look at the bite. If it appears your dog has been bitten by a poisonous snake.

Keep the dog quiet. Excitement, exercise and struggling increase the rate of absorption. Carry your dog to the veterinarian.

Specific antivenoms are available through veterinarians. Snake bites become infected. Antibiotics and dressings are indicated.

Signs and symptoms:
Signs and symptoms depend on the size and species of the snake, location of the bite and amount of toxin absorbed into the system. The first signs are extreme restlessness, panting, drooling and weakness. They are followed by diarrhea, collapse, sometimes seizures, shock and. in severe cases, death.

[Nolena]

I had a miniature poodle that was bitten by a speckled rattlesnake a few years back. (O.K. Maybe it was a lot of years! I'm old.) Anyway she was 13, & was bitten on the neck. (She went after the snake...not a good thing.) She had a pretty ugly open draining wound for about a week, and was on steroids (too late for antivenin), but she came out just fine. Dogs seem to do better than people on that front.

[snwbnny]

My friend's lab/chow mix was bitten by a snake once last year. The bite made a huge lump on his neck the size of a grapefruit. He was drooling and breathing heavy. We didn't catch it intime to do anything about it - overnight his breathing slowed down to about nothing and his heartrate dropped drastically. But by morning he was fine. He still has a droopy neck from the stretched out skin. But anyway - point is dogs are better off than people.